PHOTO
DUBAI, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The government of Iraq's Kurdistan region said it would continue to pursue huge financial claims against a consortium including Dana Gas, after the United Arab Emirates company announced it had won an arbitration award in their long-running dispute.
Dana said in a statement on Sunday that a tribunal of the London Court of International Arbitration had ordered the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to pay the consortium $1.98 billion within 28 days.
But later in the day, the KRG said Dana's statement was misleading and incomplete.
"This is a partial award that does not finally determine all issues in the arbitration, and leaves many issues unresolved," the KRG said, adding that it would continue pursuing claims against Dana and affiliates "in all appropriate fora".
The KRG added in its statement that it still had counter-claims worth over $3 billion against Dana, and that the tribunal would hear these claims in the next phase of arbitration.
In 2007, Kurdistan awarded Dana and the UAE's Crescent Petroleum a 25-year deal to develop the Khor Mor and Chemchamal gas fields. Austria's OMV and Hungary's MOL subsequently each took 10 percent of the venture.
But the project became entangled in a dispute over legal rights to the fields and allegations that the consortium had been underpaid for condensate and liquefied petroleum gas products supplied from Khor Mor.
(Reporting by Andrew Torchia; Editing by Dominic Evans) ((andrew.torchia@thomsonreuters.com; +9715 6681 7277; Reuters Messaging: andrew.torchia.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
Dana said in a statement on Sunday that a tribunal of the London Court of International Arbitration had ordered the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to pay the consortium $1.98 billion within 28 days.
But later in the day, the KRG said Dana's statement was misleading and incomplete.
"This is a partial award that does not finally determine all issues in the arbitration, and leaves many issues unresolved," the KRG said, adding that it would continue pursuing claims against Dana and affiliates "in all appropriate fora".
The KRG added in its statement that it still had counter-claims worth over $3 billion against Dana, and that the tribunal would hear these claims in the next phase of arbitration.
In 2007, Kurdistan awarded Dana and the UAE's Crescent Petroleum a 25-year deal to develop the Khor Mor and Chemchamal gas fields. Austria's OMV and Hungary's MOL subsequently each took 10 percent of the venture.
But the project became entangled in a dispute over legal rights to the fields and allegations that the consortium had been underpaid for condensate and liquefied petroleum gas products supplied from Khor Mor.
(Reporting by Andrew Torchia; Editing by Dominic Evans) ((andrew.torchia@thomsonreuters.com; +9715 6681 7277; Reuters Messaging: andrew.torchia.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
